The drama was popular among teenagers, bringing in average viewership ratings of 15.7% during its two-month run. A special episode, in which the cast of the show performed the Dream High Special Concert on a stage near Seoul on February 24, 2011, was aired on March 1, 2011, the day after the series ended. The show was successful internationally and helped the proliferation of the Korean Wave.
A sequel, Dream High 2, aired one year later with a new cast. The drama was later adapted into a stage musical in both Japan and South Korea.
Synopsis
Six students at Kirin High School share dreams of becoming K-pop idols, among others. During their school years, they learn how to develop their singing, songwriting and dancing skills while undergoing personal growth. They also start to develop feelings for one another. Each of them has their own strengths and weaknesses, but they strive to debut with the support and guidance of one another.
An aspiring dancer who plans on making his entertainment debut due to the contentious relationship with his father, the mayor, who hasn't acknowledged him as his son. Hye-mi's Love Interest.
While "Someday" fared well commercially and reached number one on the Gaon Digital Chart, it was embroiled in controversy after the song's writer and composer, Park Jin-young, was accused of plagiarizing the song, "To My Man". Songwriter Kim Shin-il won his plagiarism lawsuit against Park Jin-young in 2013, however, an appeal to the Supreme Court of Korea led to an eventual High Court retrial in 2015.
Reception
On October 5, 2011, Japan's daily paper Sankei Sports reported that Dream High was handed the Grand Prize and Hallyu award at the SKY PerfecTV! awards which took place in Tokyo. On October 24, 2011, Dream High was given the Special Award for Foreign Drama at the 5th International Drama Festival held in Tokyo.[unreliable source?] On December 31, 2011, Dream High won the following at the KBS Drama Awards: Best Supporting Actress for Lee Yoon-ji; Best New Actor and Popularity Award for Kim Soo-hyun; Best New Actress for Bae Suzy; and Best Couple Award for Kim Soo-hyun and Bae Suzy. On May 10, 2012, Dream High was honored at the Rose d'Or, the global entertainment television festival ceremony which took place at Lucerne, Switzerland. It won the Golden Rose under the Youth category, the first ever Korean production to do so.
In 2012, Philippines network ABS-CBN dubbed the show as "The most successful Korean series of 2011".
Dream High is one of the most watched South Korean dramas on Chinese video streaming platform Youku with over 26,300,000 views and an average of 2,000,000 views per episode (As of July 2016).
Ratings
In the table below, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings.
After the publication of Dream High Special Making Book in February 2011 which contained behind-the-scene stories and photos as well as special interviews with the show's cast, a two-volume "image novel" was also released featuring still cuts from the drama.
In episode 17 of My Love from the Star, Bae Suzy makes a special guest appearance as Go Hye-mi, the main protagonist (and the same character she plays in) of Dream High.[unreliable source?]
On November 13, 2022, it was announced Dream High would be adapted into a Korean stage musical which will be opened in May 2023, the plot focusing on the lives of main characters 10 years after the series. On February 10, it was confirmed that choreographers Choi Young-jun from 1Million and Kim Hyo-jin from Artone (also the producing house of the musical) will be participating as choreography directors on the choreograph-heavy stage work. On February 28, it was confirmed that Eum Moon-suk, Winner's Lee Seung-hoon and SF9's Yoo Tae-yang will be playing the male lead, adult Song Sam-dong. Most of the main characters from the original series are reprised as adulthood characters in the adaptation, however only childhood and adolescent casts have been revealed for Go Hye-mi, the female lead in the series.[citation needed]
In March 2025, it was announced that Dream High would be adapted into another stage musical, with Park Kyung-lim as creative director. The musical will be performed April 5 to June 1, 2025 simultaneously in both Korea and Japan. confirmed that Wonder Girls' Sunye and f(x)'s Luna will be appearing as Baek-hee, previously played by T-ara's Eunjung.[citation needed]
In Japan, the series received a 2-Box Set DVD release on September 28, 2011 by Avex Japan, which were only available for purchase in the country. A commemorative event for the DVD release was held at the Saitama Super Arena on September 4, 2011, in which the majority of the cast attended to hold a joint concert and fan meeting. Due to the show's popularity and the success of the previous releases, additional 2 box sets were released on August 3, 2012 under the same distributor.
Another DVD box set featuring behind-the-scenes videos and interviews with the cast and staff was released on December 7 of the same year in Japan under Pony Canyon.
International broadcast
Dream High is one of the best selling Korean dramas internationally, being licensed to over 35 channels in approximately 60 different countries. It received a worldwide broadcast on KBS World on April 27, 2021. It was also aired on MENA's largest network group MBC starting 25 August 2013 and received multiple re-runs since due to its popularity. In Europe, it premiered in Italy on September 2, 2013 on MTV and in 2017 on Lifetyle TV in Romania. The show was sold to various Latin American countries including Peru (2012), Ecuador (2012), Chile (2012, 2013, 2017), Panama (2013), Colombia (2013), Dominican Republic (2013), El Salvador (2013) and Bolivia (2014). It premiered in Indonesia on NET TV for the third time on January 17, 2022.
Streaming platform
Dream High has been licensed to multiple local and international streaming platforms since its release. Foreign releases were on American platforms DramaFever and Viki Rakuten as well as Viu, available in selected regions. It was released on Netflix on July 20, 2022.
↑"'드림하이' 스페셜 콘서트, 사회 맡은 김태우 아이유 옆에 '찰싹' 붙어 | bnt뉴스"[Kim Tae-woo, who hosted the 'Dream High' special concert, sticks close to IU.]. bntnews (in Korean). March 1, 2011. Archived from the original on January 24, 2025. Retrieved January 13, 2026.
↑'드림하이' 스타K, 왜 김수현이었을까['Dream High' Star K, why was Kim Soo-hyun?]. Naver (in Korean). OSEN. March 2, 2011. Archived from the original on January 17, 2023. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
↑Jeong, Gang-hyeon (February 3, 2011). 끊이지 않는 박진영 표절 의혹 왜?. Korea Daily (in Korean). Seoul. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved November 28, 2015.
↑"Nielsen Korea" (in Korean). Archived from the original on March 17, 2017. Retrieved January 3, 2011.
12"[mk영상]유이-박민영-이윤지, 섹시 각선미 대결 '후끈' (KBS연기대상)"[[mk video] Uee, Park Min-young, and Lee Yoon-ji's sexy and slender battle heats up (KBS Drama Awards)]. MK스포츠 (in Korean). January 1, 2012. Retrieved August 19, 2025.
↑"Dream High: Musical" (in Japanese). Dream High: Musical Production Committee. Archived from the original on December 30, 2012. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
↑Park Ro-sa (January 26, 2023). 김수현·수지·아이유 '드림하이' 쇼 뮤지컬로 재탄생[Kim Soo-hyun, Suzy, and IU's 'Dream High' show are reborn as musicals] (in Korean). Ilgan Sports. Archived from the original on January 26, 2023. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
↑드림하이 송삼동 캐스트 공개: 아트원컴퍼니. artonecompany.com (in Korean). February 28, 2023. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2023.
↑박경림, '불후의 명곡' 스페셜 MC로 출격…여전한 입담 뽐냈다[Park Kyung-rim, appears as a special MC for 'Immortal Song'... shows off her eloquence as always]. Nate News (in Korean). Archived from the original on March 18, 2025. Retrieved March 18, 2025.
↑"韓国ドラマ『ドリームハイ』プレミアイベントに2PM、ペ・ヨンジュンら大集合"[2PM, Bae Yong-joon and others gather at Korean drama "Dream High" premiere event]. BARKS (in Japanese). September 5, 2011. Retrieved January 13, 2026.
